1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a system and method for immersing facial images of people captured automatically from a sequence of images into a live video playback sequence. This method allows viewers to perceive a participation in the viewed “movie” segment. A format is defined for storing the video such that this live playback of the video sequence is possible.
2. Background of the Invention
There have been attempts for making a movie or video entertainment system to be personalized or interactive in the prior arts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,906 of Dunn et al. disclosed an interactive entertainment system, which allowed viewers to create their own customized lists of preferred video content programs, such as movies or TV shows, thus providing a convenient way to manage lists of movies according to the preferences of each viewer. Their invention also allowed a viewer to easily identify movies of interest.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,320 of Vancelette disclosed an invention, in which a viewer could select among a choice of available camera angles and audio feeds when viewing a sporting event in a television without changing the channel. In his invention, the user could select alternative audio and video signals also. Thus the user was given the opportunity to customize the programming. However, the user was still left out of the content itself. The user remained as a viewer and no further participation of the user was allowed. For example, for the viewer to become a player in the sporting event by immersing the viewer's image into a player image was not possible in his invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,042 of Reimer et al. disclosed a method and apparatus for providing on demand access to information related to a movie while the movie is being presented to a user. The invention also discussed about a system and method for enabling a user to create, modify, and utilize a personalized version of a movie through the personalized presentation manager. In this personal movie version, the user could include shots not in the theatrical presentation or the VCR video version, and/or may exclude shots, takes, clips, and/or scenes that are in the theatrical presentation and/or the VCR video version. The user could also change the sequence and/or the length of shots, takes, clips, and/or scenes using the personalized edit decision list. However, the user was also left out of the content itself in this invention. The user remained as a viewer and no direct participation of the user was possible in this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,293 of Chaddha disclosed a cost effective method for generating and delivering personalized multimedia content targeted at specific end users or groups of end users via client computers coupled to local servers by a diverse computer network. The personalized content was generated based on the personal profile, but the invention particularly related to the distribution of customized multimedia content over a network rather than to the creation itself of the customized content.
One example of active involvement of viewers to the content is the following disclosed invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,026 of Best disclosed a method and apparatus for a video entertainment system by which viewers or users could conduct simulated voice conversations with screen actors or cartoon characters in a branching story game, which was shown on a television screen. In his invention, the actors and cartoon characters replied responsively with lip-sync sound to words spoken by the users. In order for the users to know what words they could use at each branch point, a menu of prompting words was displayed on a hand-held unit. With his invention, users could interact with the simulated images or contents, which respond to each user's words, on the screen. Although this invention attempted to change the flow of content through user interaction, using speech input modality, there was no graphical involvement from the user. The image of the user did not have anything to do with the content, thus leaving the users still out of the presented content and making the users only be standoff watchers.
Although there have been attempts for making movies or video entertainment media to be personalized or more interactive in the prior arts, the approaches are more concerned with the outward methodologies of doing so, in which the way to enjoy the system and/or movies was personalized rather than personalizing the content itself of the presented movies or video entertainment media. For example, customizing a list of movies or a bulletin of related movies, customizing the sequence or the length of the movie shots were attempted. Even when the content was to be personalized in a few attempts in the prior arts, the image of the user did not have anything to do with the content of the presented movie or video entertainment media, thus leaving the users out of the presented content and making the users only be standoff watchers. In other words, there still remains a need to personalize content of the movie or video entertainment media itself, especially the user's graphical involvement into the content as a participant is necessary. When the users see themselves in the movie, they can truly feel that they are participating in the movie.
The proposed invention is an attempt to make the content of the movie media to be personalized and interactive by immersing the users' body images into the content as participants and changing the content either automatically or manually through users' direct interaction. With the invention, the users can actively participate into the movie content. The invention also intelligently allows the replacement of the images be automatically personalized and matched depending on the demographic information about the users.